Hannah and Josh’s “Sixteen Candles” goes to Vegas Elopement
Follow our couple (Hannah & Josh) on their pre-ceremony adventure around Vegas, ceremony at The Neon Museum by Heidi Rider (the female Elvis officiant) and a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant (Batista’s) for reception food & celebration with guests!
For this special blog, we asked Hannah if she could tell us her love story with Josh. Let’s hear what she has to say:
LOVE STORY
“We met 10 years ago at work! We both were working part-time as janitors at the church we both grew up going to (scrubbing toilets together is just so romantic, you know?). We worked together for a few years before we started dating in late 2014.
[Two years into dating,] Josh made the decision to join the military. At that point we knew we were going to get married anyways, so we said “what the heck” and went to the courthouse and eloped. Our families weren’t very happy with us for getting married that way, but we promised them that we would have a “real wedding” once we knew where we were going to be stationed (thinking that we’d have our wedding on our one year anniversary.)
We then spent 6 months in southern Mississippi while he completed his technical training, where we got two lab puppies- thinking we would be stationed within the US. Well, as it would turn out we got orders to Germany! So we packed up our two big puppies and moved overseas. We told our families that the wedding would be postponed until we got back to the US so we could spend that money traveling and exploring Europe. Both families came out to see us and it was so fun. We were in Europe for 2 years and then Josh deployed. While he was deployed, Covid hit and it was awful. He was only supposed to be deployed for 6 months, but it was extended to 9 months because of pandemic delays. When Josh got back from his deployment, we went back to Germany and were there for another 6ish months.
Today, he is out of the military & we are living in Northern Virginia, though I work in DC. We absolutely love it here! But as soon as we were back in the US, our families started hounding us to finally have a wedding. We figured 5 years is a roundish number to do a vow renewal/ wedding! We looked at doing a destination (since we’d have to travel anyways) and not knowing [if or how Covid would impact our wedding], we decided Vegas was a fun/ safe option! “
AND we are so glad Hannah made the decision to work with P3 Events! Now, onto their wedding story:
THE WEDDING
In hopes of making her wedding super fun and unique, while also keeping it from being too cheesy or tacky, Hannah found me through Instagram! We instantly VIBED and this couple let me take the reigns on planning their long anticipated wedding day (my favorite kind of elopement couple).
Originally Hannah had looked at booking a wedding chapel, but in meeting with her to develop her wedding vision, this wasn’t exactly her style. The Neon Museum however, was absolutely perfect! (as you can tell from the incredible wedding photo by Onyx and Arrow Photography). Hannah described it as “…young and fun and also verryyyy Vegas!”
But we’re skipping too far ahead of ourselves here, since their ceremony was later in the day, FIRST hear their incredible pre-Vegas adventure (which I’m sure you’ve seen all over TikTok).
The wedding / vow renewal or whatever you want to call it was SO FUN. The couple felt like we got the vibes absolutely perfect! Hannah & Josh started the day getting ready at The Midcentury Manor. While they got ready, they were treated with some sparkling wine and took a few photos there. The bride’s words on the Midcentury Manor; “The house is stunning and the owner is so incredibly nice!” Set & Fury accentuated Hannah’s natural gorgeousness + the bride’s bouquet came from Lorea Blooms.
From the Midcentury Manor, the couple had rented a 55 Thunderbird, which was the groom, Josh’s favorite part since he was super excited to take it for a spin! They drove to Rebar for lunch and drinks & took more photos inside and outside at the Las Vegas mural. It’s got an old school meets new school vibe that fit Hannah & Josh’s day perfectly.
Next, the bride & groom drove to Fremont Street where I surprised them with cotton candy to take super cute pictures with! Hannah reminisces about this moment saying, “We were really feeling comfortable with the photographers at that point and had lots of fun with the cotton candy!” (Nuage Cotton Candy).
Finally, they drove to the main venue (The Neon Museum) for the ceremony. It was PERFECT. Hannah wanted the ceremony to be really fun and over the top without being too serious, so we hired a female Elvis impersonator to be their officiant. Hannah told their Elvis officiant she wanted it to be as cheesy and goofy as possible and she DELIVERED. The couple says, “Our Elvis was amazing!” Even all of their guests have said that she was one of their favorite parts of the whole day.
(Check her out below!):
The final destination was at Batista’s (a fun, hole-in-the-wall restaurant) and it was the perfect way to end the day. If she remembers that day correctly, the bride remembers correctly, they “ate [their] weights in pasta and cake. The amazing cake was provided by one of our favorite vendors “Caked” who always does an incredible job at “baking their couples’ unique wedding day + vision.”
“All in all, the day was absolutely perfect. Lindsay made everything amazing from the smallest details to the whole big picture. It was exactly the fun and lighthearted vibe we wanted. I’m so grateful for everything!! “
– Hannah & Josh
And a round of applause to all of these incredible Vendors who made this Vegas elopement happen –
Getting-ready Venue: @themidcenturymanor
Ceremony Venue: @theneonmuseumlasvegas
Planning, Styling & Production: @p3events
Photo: @onyxandarrowphotography
Officiant: @reidihider
Hair & Makeup: @setandfurylv
Floral: @loreablooms
Guitarist: @sixstringweddings
Clear Chairs: @bloomingbelleslv
Stationery: @ascaniodesigns
Cake: @cakedlasvegas
Cotton Candy: @nuagecottoncandy
Content Creator: @falonmei
